Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since 4 July to monitor the actions that the government of China has taken against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.
We continue to monitor the situation closely. For example, the Government conducts independent visits to areas of major concern wherever possible, and supports NGOs in exposing and reacting to human rights violations.
We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang at the UN General Assembly on 22 October.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what response they have received to requests for consular access to Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HMG Ministers and officials at the British Embassy in Cairo continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian government at the highest levels. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 7 October. The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August and I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 September.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Egypt regarding Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HMG Ministers and officials at the British Embassy in Cairo continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian government at the highest levels. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 7 October. The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August and I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 September.